Saturday 30 November 2019

Six on Saturday - 30 November 2019

The propagator who planted the seed of this weekly gathering of plant lovers has thankfully a brief post, unlike mine.  This week I have a resume of the development of the back garden with particular reference to the gravel garden over three years....

"Your use of gravel makes everything stand out. Is it hard to work with on that scale?"  Since Lorna asked this question last week, I could use pointers as part of my SOS this week.  

One -Layout end of November 2019

Yes everything seems to stand out well.  With the backdrop of the evergreen oak, we chose pale coloured local  stone to help with light conditions in the garden, and form a contrast to plants.  It also helps with access and drainage.  The rotary washing line fits in a pipe buried under the circular slate stone in the area closer to the house.  

The area 15cm beyond this grey stone is my true gravel garden area where I am planting bulbs and other low growing plants that will thrive in these conditions without watering etc.  Apart from the veggie area which is bordered by chives along one edge of the gravel garden, I aim not to do any watering except for newly planted items  or plants in pots anywhere in the garden.  

All the cardboard has been absorbed, as I found out when I started to plant into the gravel garden this summer.  When planting small plants or bulbs the gravel is moved well aside from the planting hole,  a hole just large enough to accommodate the bulb or plant is made and a little bone-meal in scattered at the bottom and a little soil tumbled in before planting. The soil is leveled and the plant watered in, then the grit is swept back round the plant.   Seeds such as the Eryngium Silver Ghost were just scattered on the surface of the gravel early this year, worked their own way down through the gravel and seedlings emerged within a few weeks.

On a very modest scale as can be seen here, we did it slowly the easy way all by hand and we did it all ourselves.  If you let your mouse hover over the pictures you will get an idea of dates,




Two - There was lawn

This is what the garden looked like in June 2017 when the builders had just finished the conservatory and the grass just starting to recover.  We moved the position of furniture several times, sat in different areas etc. We knew that we didn't wanted any grass/lawn in either front or back gardens.  


Hot Summer 2017 - Conservatory completed



Three - The waiting game as plans are hatched

For the  winter of 2017/2018 having bought the seating area stones, the outer slabs of the seating circle acted as stepping stones through the grass.  The circle was temporarily sited, but eventually moved in the final plan onto a properly prepared level area.   I just had to get some of my plants into the ground, which had been been in the main untouched since the house was built.  More compost than I can imagine went to topdress the soil, and much cardboard was used underneath to smother the weeds.




Four  To dig or not to dig - conserving and moving soil

No soil from digging out the gravel area between the conservatory and from under the new shed left the garden, as it was used to adjust levels towards Gooseberry Corner.  The land sloped down towards the right quite steeply and moving barrowloads left a more gentle slope.

In this picture Mr S is fixing the edges on top of the turf.  I had also been reading up about the no dig gardening system.  Under the paths with the stepping stones we used a plastic weed controlling membrane.  In hindsight I wished we had not used this, cardboard from packing cases would have been quite sufficient.  Of course, being able to call out instructions from an upstairs window is a great advantage.  We often had days without going further, and looking at the layout and adjusting curves and the width of the path and position of the stepping stones.


Five  Gravel Garden Area 

For a person who loves plants the aim is to have as much growing space as possible.  However we thought a gravel area would give that flat area across which to enjoy views of the Acer bed were needed, and be reasonably free of plants to walk across to get to the 'Potager'.  We always have a smile when I say this out loud...it is a tiny patch for growing a few things for the kitchen, but since it is in full view from the conservatory like to keep it looking nice.

We had gravel areas and no lawn in our previous garden but not a specific planned gravel garden for planting into.

For the gravel area which I wanted to plant into, the grass which had been burnt dry, and the ground fried up hard as terre battue, was covered with a good double layer of cardboard.  All of this was saved from  our delivery of  bathroom fittings, kitchen cupboards etc..It was held down with stones waiting for the delivery of finer grade of stone than the one used on the paths.  CRS our local buidlers' merchants sent a lorry with a long arm and the large cubic metre bags were lifted over the back fence...and we moved barrow loads using an already battered wheelbarrow kindly lent to us by neighbours.  The difference in gravel size does add some interest and a good foil for some of my geology specimens.


Testing out the new seating area

At least a seating area for us to sit and chat during my sister's visit



Planting areas without gravel were topped with compost, and I started to pray for rain.



Six - Planting in the gravel garden 

2019 has been the year of planting into the gravel garden.  2020 will see a variety of bulbs emerging.

In conclusion this was a very effective way of preparing the garden.  When planting I can see that the ground in the beds and under the gravel is in excellent condition.  We have an army of worms, beetles and other creatures who have taken down the compost, we have had no compaction issues, and the drainage even with the heavy rain has worked well.  As I am the gardener the digging in the conventional way would have meant delay and frustration as on this clay soil it is often too wet or too hard and dry to be able work it.


18 comments:

  1. Looks fabulous! You must be very pleased. Really interesting to see it progress.

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    1. Thanks Gill. I am as pleased as I could be...I have a succession of plants throughout the season...mostly perennials and bulbs all packed into a small garden.

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  2. I do like seeing how a garden has changed over time. You've done a great job.

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  3. Wow, looks great. Love your seating area. I am using crushed shell instead of gravel in Florida, the cardboard gets nasty here. Can't wait to see bulbs.

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    1. Crushed shell is fab..I've seen that by the coast and it is beautiful in itself, they were all cockles from a processing plant. In georgian times large houses by the coast used to have shells as insulation between the floorboards in UK.

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  4. I have pictures of our garden at that newly planted stage, around 30 years ago. Nothing of it still survives. You should take that first upstairs window shot at regular intervals, I wish I had more from the early days. You look to have made great progress so far.

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    1. Thanks Jim, and also for the advice on taking more pictures from the upstairs window. This weekly log is a great idea for keeping track. Only started blogging when we first moved to our previous house. Thirty years is a lovely time to have in one place...I too love to 'adjust' in the garden.

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  5. A wonderful record of your work and progress. I like the bird's eye views. It's great to look back and see how far we have come, isn't it. Look forward to seeing the plants thrive and how you make the front garden your own. x

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    1. Thanks Alison, you've seen it more or less from the start. Can't promise it will stay the same, as love to 'play' in the garden.

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  6. Like it, looking great Noelle. I sometimes wonder if the next occupant of our house will want a garden that is as much work, but then I think stuff it!

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    1. Yeah...we garden for ourselves, and long may that last.

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  7. Interesting to see how your garden has changed Noelle. You must have certainly put a lot of hard work into it. It must be great to be able to look back and see what you've achieved.

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    1. I love my blog for this reason, to be able to look back and learn. I have made up several new gardens and this one will be in constant flux. Already planning a more productive garden.

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  8. What a triumph Noelle, your garden is looking beautiful.

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  9. You've made a tremendous change in that garden. The curved path & gravel give the impression it's much larger now than it was before. Last week, I'd thought your beds were gravel & wondered how maintenance was for you - the times I've inherited gravel beds, they've been a nightmare to keep weed free. I imagine your gravel areas, tho paths, are too young to have collected much garden debris, creating soil for tiny seeds to grow. Thanks for sharing this. It gives so much inspiration! What a lovely space you've created.

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    1. Thanks Lora. I had a big cut back yesterday and saw many shoots of bulbs just breaking the surface, so looking forward to spring surprises.

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  10. That is such an exciting time, when the garden is new, and ideas are still settling into place.

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    1. The plants are trying to settle, and I am trying very hard not to go ahead and rearrange some of the plants, which is a thing I have difficulty achieving.

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